Slavery: "...The Worst of Evils...:" An Exhibit at the Freeport Historical Museum

I have lived all my life in a county in Texas that calls itself the Cradle of Texas. 

Despite taking a class in Texas history two times in school (as required by the state), I really know very little about where I live.

I knew there were plantations in my county, but I heard nothing about the enslaved people who manned those plantations.

Then I went to an exhibit on slavery held recently at the Freeport Historical Museum. 

I learned that not only was slavery a force in my county, but it was the force that drove the creation and colonization and economy of this county. 

Slave collar from one of Brazoria County's plantations

Stephen F. Austin had planned to create his first colony in Texas near the mouth of the Colorado River, but when he landed instead at the mouth of the Brazos River in 1821, he quickly determined that with the subtropical climate where the temperatures rarely dropped below freezing, a yearly rainfall over 50 inches, and rich alluvial soils, the area would be perfect for sugar plantations. Sugar plantations in 1821 meant riches for the owners. Sugar plantations in 1821 meant slavery. Brazoria County was established in 1836, and, by then, it was considered "a haven for slavery."

Map of plantations in 1852 in Brazoria County

By 1852, there were twenty-nine sugar plantations in Brazoria County. The plantations collectively held more than twelve hundred slaves. By 1860, there were forty-five plantations in the county. In that year, the census taken showed that Brazoria County had 2,027 White people, 5,110 Black enslaved people, and six free Black people. 

A History of Brazoria County Plantations, first published in 1927

How did these enslaved people arrive in Texas? Texas was part of Mexico for much of its early history, and Mexico began to abolish slavery in 1821. Slaveholders smuggled in slaves and, after becoming part of the US, brought them in from other parts of America. Forced breeding was also enforced.

The planters made big profits in the years before the US Civil War. The Mills Brothers owned three plantations that earned $52,000 in 1860 alone. That is equivalent to $1.8 million dollars today. These earnings were, as one writer puts it, "stolen off the backs of the workers."

From a newspaper, 1837

Enslaved people in Brazoria County fought against slavery in every way possible. The primary method was to run away. Thousands are believed to have run away to Mexico. Slaveholders sent out teams of dogs to recapture slaves and rewards were offered.

Artifacts from Brazoria County plantations

The Freeport Historical Museum is a small museum in the southern part of my county. I thank the museum for researching and sharing information about slavery, "the worst of evils," right here in the place I call home. It was a startling experience for me to visit the exhibit and to reflect upon what I saw.

From the website:

During the Antebellum period, Brazoria County was home to forty-five plantations positioned along the Brazos and San Bernard Rivers. Enslaved peoples were trafficked from Africa by way of Cuba using the rivers to reach the plantation sites.

“…this worst of evils…” brings attention to the impact of chattel slavery on Brazoria County from the arrival of Austin’s original 300 to the American Civil War. The exhibit shares the narratives of the enslaved who labored local plantations, as well as exploring the politics and personalities involved in the slave trade. Original artifacts from local plantation sites were displayed.

"...this worst of evils..." - Slavery in Brazoria County Exhibit ran from February 1st to Saturday, March 4th, 2023.

The Freeport Historical Museum thanks staff of the Lake Jackson Historical Association, Levi Jordan Plantation State Historic Site, and Varner-Hogg Plantation State Historic Site for their help and support in the creation of "...this worst of evils..." - Slavery in Brazoria County Exhibit. It was the largest exhibit put together by the staff of the historical museum.

For more photos, link up at Wordless Wednesday, Comedy Plus, Messymimi's Meanderings, Keith's Ramblings, Create With Joy, Wild Bird Wednesday, and My Corner of the World.

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a meme where you can share new words that you’ve encountered, or spotlight words you love or post about anything word-ish. It was first created by Kathy over at Bermuda Onion.

Weekend Cooking was created by Beth Fish Reads and is now hosted by Marg at The Intrepid Reader (and Baker). It is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page. For more information, see the welcome post. 

(Ten of) My Favorite Poems (and an Excerpt from Each)

It's National Poetry Month here in the US, and do we ever need a month of poetry! I am sharing a few of my favorite poems today.

I keep a commonplace book. It's nothing fancy. Here I record my favorite poems and quotes and inspiration and it's where I draw little pictures and more. All the photos here are from my commonplace book. 

10.  "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird" by Wallace Stevens

"Among twenty snowy mountains,   

The only moving thing

Was the eye of the blackbird.... " 

9. "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Robert Frost

“Whose woods these are I think I know.

His house is in the village, though;

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow...." 

 

8. "Let Evening Come" by Jane Kenyon

"...Let the cricket take up chafing

as a woman takes up her needles 

and her yarn. Let evening come...."

 

7. "Yes Yes Yes" by Kaylin Haught

“I asked God if it was okay to be melodramatic

and she said yes

I asked her if it was okay to be short

and she said it sure is..."

 

6. "The Visible and the In---" by Marge Piercy

"Some people move through your life

like the perfume of peonies, heavy

and sensual and lingering...."

 

5. "[ancient pond]" by Basho

"ancient pond

frog jumps in

sound of the water"

4. "The Red Wheelbarrow" by William Carlos Williams

"so much depends

upon

a red wheel

barrow..."

3. "Sunlight on the Garden" by Louis MacNeice

"The sunlight on the garden

Hardens and grows cold,

We cannot cage the minute

Within its nets of gold,

When all is told

We cannot beg for pardon...."

 

 

2. "Thanks" by W. S. Merwin

"Listen

with the night falling we are saying thank you

we are stopping on the bridges to bow from the railings

we are running out of glass rooms

with our mouths full of food to look at the sky

and say thank you

we are standing by the water thanking it

standing by the windows looking out

in our directions..."

 

1. "The Orange" by Wendy Cope

"At lunchtime I bought a huge orange

The size of it made us all laugh.

I peeled it and shared it with Robert and Dave—

They got quarters and I had a half...."

For more of my favorite poems, take a look at my collection of favorites Oh-So-Splendid Poems. 

Do you have a favorite poem? Would any of mine be on your list? Please share some of your favorites in the comments.

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Each Tuesday That Artsy Reader Girl assigns a topic and then post her top ten list that fits that topic. You’re more than welcome to join her and create your own top ten (or 2, 5, 20, etc.) list as well. Feel free to put a unique spin on the topic to make it work for you! Please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own post so that others know where to find more information.   

The Sunday Salon: Killers of the Flower Moon and Becoming Better Grownups

Do you ever have weeks when you wonder what you did all week?

Last week was like that for me.

I did a bit of here-and-there, walked and zumba-ed, visited friends, went to a couple of gatherings...all with brilliant blue skies and delightfully cool spring weather. 

A week of ordinary, spectacular days.

What I Read Last Week:

Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the F.B.I. by David Grann

Becoming Better Grownups: Rediscovering What Matters and Remembering How to Fly by Brad Montague

 What I'm Reading Now:

Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck

Nightcrawling: A Novel by Leila Mottley

Last week I posted here at Readerbuzz:

The Sunday Salon: A 3-Novel Week

Books About Animals and Other Nature Books I Might Read This Year

Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley

Good Thing #1

Our tomato plants are almost as tall as my husband.

Good Thing #2

We wait anxiously 

every year 

for our old pecan tree to leaf out.

Will it or won't it?

It did last week. 

Good Thing #3

I'll be at the 

Texas Library Association Conference 

in Austin next week!

I'm happy you joined us here at the Sunday Salon. Sunday Salon is a place to link up and to share what we have been doing during the week. It's a great way to visit other blogs and join in the conversations going on there. 

Some of the things we often talk about at the Sunday Salon:

• What was your week like?
• Read any good books? Tell us about them.
• What other bookish things did you do? 
• What else is going on in your life?

Other places where you may like to link up over the weekend are below. Click on the picture to visit the site.

        

My linkup for Sunday Salon is below. 

Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley: Friday Book Friends: Book Beginnings on Fridays, First Line Friday, The Friday 56, and Book Blogger Hop

Today's Featured Book 

Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley

Genre: Fiction

Published: June 7, 2022

Page Count: 277 pages

Summary: 

Kiara and her brother, Marcus, are scraping by in an East Oakland apartment complex optimistically called the Regal-Hi. Both have dropped out of high school, their family fractured by death and prison.

But while Marcus clings to his dream of rap stardom, Kiara hunts for work to pay their rent—which has more than doubled—and to keep the nine-year-old boy next door, abandoned by his mother, safe and fed. One night, what begins as a drunken misunderstanding with a stranger turns into the job Kiara never imagined wanting but now desperately needs: nightcrawling. Her world breaks open even further when her name surfaces in an investigation that exposes her as a key witness in a massive scandal within the Oakland Police Department.

My Initial Thoughts:

Author Leila Mottley is coming to Houston for a reading on Monday night, and I plan to be there. I'm afraid this book is going to be a grueling read for me, but I think it's something I should be reading, something outside my comfort zone.

 

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAY is hosted by Rose City Reader. What book are you happy about reading this week? Please share the opening sentence (or so) on BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAY! Add the link to your blog or social media post and visit other blogs to see what others are reading.

Happy Friday and welcome to the FIRST LINE FRIDAY, hosted by Reading is My Superpower! It’s time to grab the book nearest to you and leave a comment with the first line.

"The swimming pool is filled with dog sh-- and Dee's laughter mocks us at dawn. I've been telling her all week that she's looking like the crackhead she is, laughing at the same joke like it's going to change. Dee didn't seem to mind that her boyfriend left her, didn't even seem to care when he showed up poolside after making his rounds to every dumpster in the neighborhood last Tuesday, finding feces wrapped up in plastic bags..."

THE FRIDAY 56 is hosted by Freda's Voice. To play, open a book and turn to page 56 (or 56% on your e-reader). Find a sentence or two and post them, along with the book title and author. Then link up on Freda's Voice and visit others in the linky. 

"Dee wailed and squeezed and trembled until my mama's hums drowned it all out and then the tribe of us saw the hair, saw the tiny round that crawled from her body, turning her inside out. The squeals began and the humming turned to chants and we all watched that child swim out his mama, head poking out more blood than hair, and my mama took him in her arms and laid him on Dee's breast and this was the sweetest, most whole thing to ever take place in our building, and the rain poured and poured and poured until Dee began to beg again and her birthmarked baby squirmed and Ronda gave up, passed Dee the pipe, and she faded into sky like she didn't hear her own baby crying."

The purpose of THE BOOK BLOGGER HOP is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, and befriend other bloggers. THE BOOK BLOGGER HOP is hosted by Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer.    

 

April 14th - 20th - What is your go-to website to check out book reviews? (submitted by Elizabeth @ Silver's Reviews)

The main way I discover the good books? I read the reviews of other bloggers. 

Books About Animals and Other Nature Books I Might Read This Year

Mother Nature is Not Trying to Kill You: A Bushcraft Survival Guide by Rob Nelson

Teaching a Stone to Talk by Annie Dillard

The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen 

A Most Remarkable Creature: The Hidden Life of the World's Smartest Birds of Prey by Jonathan Meiburg (Update: I read this in late March. Review is here. Highly recommended.)

Birding Without Borders: An Obsession, a Quest, and the Biggest Year in the World by Noah Stryker

The Secret World of Weather: How to Read Signs in Every Cloud, Breeze, Hill, Street, Plant, Animal, and Dewdrop by Tristan Gooley

A Brief History of Earth: Four Billion Years in Eight Chapters by Andrew H. Knoll

Arctic Dreams by Barry Lopez

Feral: Losing Myself and Finding Myself in America's National Parks by Emily Pennington

Spirals in Time: The Secret Life and Curious Afterlife of Seashells by Helen Scales

Which of these would you read first?

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Each Tuesday That Artsy Reader Girl assigns a topic and then post her top ten list that fits that topic. You’re more than welcome to join her and create your own top ten (or 2, 5, 20, etc.) list as well. Feel free to put a unique spin on the topic to make it work for you! Please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own post so that others know where to find more information.